Climate Lynx

 When I started writing this column 347 weeks ago, I aimed to share as much climate science information from reputable sources as possible. Since I can only share a little more, I will list a few science magazines from which you can get honest information.  I have regularly subscribed to the Scientific American, National Geographic, New Science, and Science. Remember, your local libraries can subscribe to these and save you money. Libraries tend to buy books and subscriptions considered "popular." Suppose you and some friends let the libraries know science is popular. In that case, they will buy books and subscriptions related to science. Since the anti-science Trump government is attempting to undermine our Constitution, our science-based government organizations like NOAA, NASA, NCAR, and NSIDC may be compromised. It will be interesting to see if they can remain science based. Our National Academies of Science was created in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln and Congress. It wa...

On a trip to Washington, DC, to march and then lobby our representative to support climate change initiatives, my partner and I decided to tour our nation's capital. The guided tour was not only fascinating and informative, but it also provided a crucial historical context that described subversive people in our government whose actions had put our democracy at risk. While the climate crisis remains, far and away, the greatest threat to our natural world and civilization, we are simultaneously in the midst of the greatest threat to our democracy since the Civil War. It's crucial that we stand together, united in our resolve to confront these issues. The Trump administration has launched Project 2025, a plan to undermine our democracy and the climate. I hope this does not take you by surprise.  It is not like former Trump appointees didn't warn us. Former Trump-appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, four-star Army General Mark Milley, said of Donald Trump is ...

China Must Be Thrilled Donald Trump was elected to manage borders and curb left-wing wokeism, but his right-wing wokeism—attacking electric vehicles and renewable energy because they don't fit MAGA ideology—is equally senseless and against national interests. Ironically, his own base benefits from renewables. The five states with the largest share of wind power are red states, generating at least a third of their power from wind. This is about geography, not politics. Rural America has vast solar and wind potential and is already capitalizing on it, regardless of voting patterns. More critically, Trump's "drill, baby, drill" approach at a time when artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and autonomous technology are advancing will not make America great again. Instead, it risks making China great again. Trump once boasted about sending Americans to Mars. The real question is whether a Chinese astronaut will greet them there, asking, "What took you so...

 The United States recently joined an exclusive climate club.  Before disclosing its members, let's examine the big climate picture. In 2023, we had an El Nino year that set new warm temperature records. The El Nino is when ocean surface temperatures are warmer than usual.  This pretty much shut down winter recreation in the U.P., except for the downhill ski areas making snow. Many people said we should not worry, as it was just an El Nino year, and we could expect a cool La Nina year in 2024.  I held my tongue because the ten previous years were very warm, setting new records nearly every year.  These have been the warmest temperatures the Earth has ever seen since homo sapiens started walking upright. Rising planetary temperatures mean more extreme weather, but how does that relate to human well-being? A group of climate scientists painstakingly analyzes extreme weather events to see if they can be attributed to climate change. The organization is called t...

A Link between Slavery & Big Oil   Noam Chomsky, one of the world's most quoted authors, expresses his opinion of the Big Oil misinformation campaign: "I don't know what word in the language—I can't find one—that applies to people of that kind, who are willing to sacrifice the existence of organized human life, not in the distant future, so they can put a few more dollars in highly overstuffed pockets. The word 'evil' doesn't begin to approach it." Was there another time in US history when evil ruled?  Let's look at the United States before the Civil War. In the South, there were 4 million enslaved people. The slaves, or their parents, or grandparents, or someone in their lineage had been kidnapped, shackled, and shipped to the Americas to spend their lives with no freedom whatsoever. This criminal operation started in 1619 and accelerated until the Union forces ended it. The black humans had no rights and were conveniently labeled as les...

Lincoln gave two great speeches: the Gettysburg Address and his second Inaugural Address. His second inaugural address must have come as a surprise to most Americans. He had just won a landslide election, and the Union Armies had defeated the Confederate Insurgency. You would think he would have taken a victory lap. But the President was wrestling with God's purpose. Why had the nation, both sides, suffered so grievously? In a country of only 32 million, 650 to 750,000 soldiers had died. Lincoln believed the nation was being punished for the institution of slavery. The South for creating its wealth on the backs of the blacks, but also the North for being too slow to challenge the appalling injustice of slavery. Seven times in his short speech, Lincoln referred to the book from which he had learned to read. The book he referenced was the King James version of the Bible. Here is his speech: "Fellow countrymen: at this second appearing to take the oath of the presidenti...